The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

[MindFreak]

It's crazy that we are here now, two days before release, and how much time has passed since the release of BotW. 

Since then I have got two kids and a third on the way, two new jobs, and a house. And my oldest kid is just about to start school in August.

[drahkon]

Looking forward to reading all the impressions starting Friday.

Been lucky enough to be able to play my mate's copy on Switch for a while now (his local retailer never disappoints breaking street dates - don't tell the big 3).

And the big question you all want answered: Does stupid drahkon dislike TotK as much as he dislikes BotW?

Spoiler

Surprisingly...no.

Not that there isn't stuff to dislike, but I've been enjoying my playtime much more than my entire playthrough of BotW.

 

[MindFreak]

10 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Looking forward to reading all the impressions starting Friday.

Been lucky enough to be able to play my mate's copy on Switch for a while now (his local retailer never disappoints breaking street dates - don't tell the big 3).

And the big question you all want answered: Does stupid drahkon dislike TotK as much as he dislikes BotW?

  The answer (no game spoilers whatsoever) (Reveal hidden contents)

Surprisingly...no.

Not that there isn't stuff to dislike, but I've been enjoying my playtime much more than my entire playthrough of BotW.

 

Spoiler

Without getting spoilery, can you explain what makes the game more enjoyable to you? More stuff to do, low expectations going in, something other?

 

[drahkon]

8 minutes ago, MindFreak said:

  Question to spoilertag (Reveal hidden contents)

Without getting spoilery, can you explain what makes the game more enjoyable to you? More stuff to do, low expectations going in, something other?

 

Spoiler

My expectations going into TotK were incredibly low. I'd say that's probably the biggest factor.

I haven't explored too too much, but what I've seen seems livelier (even though it's still pretty barren, if that makes any sense). There's more "folk" to see and talk to.

There's also a few more things to do. However, they are already starting to become repetitive.

 

[EEVILMURRAY]

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

And the big question you all want answered: Does stupid drahkon dislike TotK as much as he dislikes BotW?

  The answer (no game spoilers whatsoever) (Hide contents)

 

 

I'm glad to see we're on the same page. I've also been keeping my expectations extremely low because of how boring Breath of The Wild was, I wasn't going to make that same mistake again. It was Nintendo's greatest betrayal. But I'm pleased to see someone who disliked the first is enjoying the second

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

And the big question you all want answered: Does stupid drahkon dislike TotK as much as he dislikes BotW?

  The answer (no game spoilers whatsoever) (Hide contents)

Surprisingly...no.

Not that there isn't stuff to dislike, but I've been enjoying my playtime much more than my entire playthrough of BotW.

 

It is people of culture like you I want to hear from. Your spoiler is promising. Perhaps I will end up having to reassess after all.

Spoiler

I've given normal previews a wide berth as they are all the same, but I've been all over spoilers and leaks to make as informed a decision as I can. After BotW, I do not want to go in blind to this. I actually downloaded TotK last week as I wanted to try before I buy... which I've never done unless there is an official demo, so it goes to show where I am with it. I've since deleted it and decided to pass on the game for now. 

I tried IGNs video preview but knocked it off soon after it opened heralding TotK as bigger and longer than BotW. Turned my stomach to think about that. I'll skim through the Treehouse preview to see how Nintendo themselves play and present it, but honestly, I don't need another huge game on my list, let alone more BotW.

 

[drahkon]

8 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

But I'm pleased to see someone who disliked the first is enjoying the second

I'm pleasantly surprised myself, too
It's not great, but enjoyable enough for now.

5 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

 

  No game spoilers either (Reveal hidden contents)

I've given normal previews a wide berth as they are all the same, but I've been all over spoilers and leaks to make as informed a decision as I can. After BotW, I do not want to go in blind to this. I actually downloaded TotK last week as I wanted to try before I buy... which I've never done unless there is an official demo, so it goes to show where I am with it. I've since deleted it and decided to pass on the game for now. 

I tried IGNs video preview but knocked it off soon after it opened heralding TotK as bigger and longer than BotW. Turned my stomach to think about that. I'll skim through the Treehouse preview to see how Nintendo themselves play and present it, but honestly, I don't need another huge game on my list, let alone more BotW.

 

Spoiler

I always chuckle when people say "games are too long these days - gimme 10 hour games all day" and yet BotW and TotK get praised with "what a huge world this is - gonna take ages to play through the game - awesome!"

 

[EEVILMURRAY]

Unfortunately @darksnowman I couldn't do what you've done. I know there's going to be the exploration and I want to go in as blind as possible with regards to quantity, it's the *quality* that I'm going to be wary of.

 

The main question is - will it be able to beat Fenyx?

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, MindFreak said:

It's crazy that we are here now, two days before release, and how much time has passed since the release of BotW. 

Since then I have got two kids and a third on the way, two new jobs, and a house. And my oldest kid is just about to start school in August.

Two days until a guaranteed masterpiece. I haven't been this excited for a game since... well, BOTW.

[drahkon]

Is sharing screenshots with the Switch still limited to Twitter?

[Julius]

12 hours ago, drahkon said:

I could give you the information, if you like.

Thanks! 

But if they've actually fixed the tiniest thing I wanted from BotW, I'd love to laugh to myself at being shocked that they did so when I first switch over to the Pro HUD  

Then again, I guess all the reviews (coming tomorrow?!) will probably answer that question too if there is any change, so...mind grabbing a screenshot for me of whatever the Pro HUD looks like now please? 

4 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Is sharing screenshots with the Switch still limited to Twitter?

You can also directly transfer them to your device of choice via QR code (instructions from NintendoLife here)  it feels like a little bit more of a hassle than it should be, but eh, it's something I guess 

[Ronnie]

2 minutes ago, Julius said:

reviews (coming tomorrow?!

Tomorrow at 1pm from what I've read. 

[EEVILMURRAY]

Y'all gonna be flocking to the reviews to spoil even more?

[darksnowman]

4 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

Unfortunately @darksnowman I couldn't do what you've done. I know there's going to be the exploration and I want to go in as blind as possible with regards to quantity, it's the *quality* that I'm going to be wary of.

The main question is - will it be able to beat Fenyx?

I get that. Based on my personal apathy towards BotW, seeing story revelations for TotK has been the least of my concerns but I wouldn't post any of it here. I've been more interested in getting a feel for if the objectives and general gameplay between story events is anything to write home about—which is no mean feat when the vast majority are people who lapped it up before and are automatically lapping it up again.

It'll be fantastic if TotK's a game where the hours melt away as you delight in the fusing and collecting on your way to saving the land in a timely fashion, but from what I've seen and extrapolating from my taster, I'm apprehensive. I don't think the novelty will sustain it. I'll be listening to what people such as yourself and @drahkon have to say when you "dig" into it because trying to find any sense of balance in other previews/writeups/reviews is a fool's errand. I've actually been listening to some podcasts from around the Switch launch and thus BotW, and it's astonishing the childlike wonder that game inspires in people. It's infectious for a second until you remember these people are flapping their gums about rolling weightless boulders off hilltops, which got old fast.

Reckon I'll be on MM 3DS before TotK rather than after.  Fenyx... well... it'd be controversial to comment one way or the other...

[drahkon]

31 minutes ago, Julius said:

mind grabbing a screenshot for me of whatever the Pro HUD looks like now please? 

Tried to be as spoiler-free as possible, i.e. in very first area against a wall, no gear, nothing.

Spoiler

 

16 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

where the hours melt away as you delight in the fusing

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR A SHRINE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
AND FOR TWO OF THE GAME'S MECHANICS (WHICH HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN VARIOUS TRAILERS).

Spoiler

I'm over it.

The controls are cumbersome, the novelty has worn off very quickly. Now it's just: Let me fuse stuff together as quickly and efficiently as possible to clear the shrine (or whatever boring objective the game throws at you over and over again).

Granted, it's early days and there will surely be more options to fuse stuff but I doubt I'll get any enjoyment out of it.

Here's an example: Just did a shrine where you had do fuse rockets to minecarts to cross chasms.
Cool at first, boring the third time.

It was a very basic shrine, though, to be fair. Doesn't fill me with much hope, though.

 

Then there's fusing stuff to weapons/items.
Unless I'm missing something it is quite tedious. First of all: The inventory system hasn't changed. It's stupid.

How do you fuse stuff to a weapon?
Open the "quick" bar for materials, find the material, drop the material, open the "quick" bar for weapon, equip the weapon, activate the fusing, and then you can fuse the dropped material to the weapon.

Again: Maybe I'm missing something and there's a way to do it in the actual inventory menu, but I haven't found it.

Edited May 10, 2023 by drahkon

[EEVILMURRAY]

12 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

I get that. Based on my personal apathy towards BotW, seeing story revelations for TotK has been the least of my concerns but I wouldn't post any of it here. I've been more interested in getting a feel for if the objectives and general gameplay between story events is anything to write home about—which is no mean feat when the vast majority are people who lapped it up before and are automatically lapping it up again.

It'll be fantastic if TotK's a game where the hours melt away as you delight in the fusing and collecting on your way to saving the land in a timely fashion, but from what I've seen and extrapolating from my taster, I'm apprehensive. I don't think the novelty will sustain it. I'll be listening to what people such as yourself and @drahkon have to say when you "dig" into it because trying to find any sense of balance in other previews/writeups/reviews is a fool's errand. I've actually been listening to some podcasts from around the Switch launch and thus BotW, and it's astonishing the childlike wonder that game inspires in people. It's infectious for a second until you remember these people are flapping their gums about rolling weightless boulders off hilltops, which got old fast.

Reckon I'll be on MM 3DS before TotK rather than after.  Fenyx... well... it'd be controversial to comment one way or the other...

The bold bits are one of the reasons I've not watched any of the preview/"I've played 20 minutes"/trailer dissection videos, because it'll be full of needless speculation bullshit and unnecessary ejaculation, which would serve only to bring me up before the game inevitably will let me down. 

I remember watching first 10ish minutes of Breath of The Wild played out where you meet the old man, and the mystery made me go "oooh" and tingly, but it eventually faded away when it just became going to 4 points to do a thing (which after the first Divine Beast revealed it to be the same thing just 4 slightly different ways), with some small puzzles dotted around an even larger landscape devoid of much.

I can see the fusion thing being fun for a bit also, I hope it doesn't rely too much on it, although depending on the weapon grab/durability opportunities I may have to. 

 

EDIT: @drahkon - how much do you feel the fusion rips off Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts? Because making a hovercraft/car out of tat was the first thing that came to mind as soon as I saw it

Edited May 10, 2023 by EEVILMURRAY

[drahkon]

3 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

how much do you feel the fusion rips off Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts? Because making a hovercraft/car out of tat was the first thing that came to mind as soon as I saw it

I have never played that game, so I can't comment on that.

[Ronnie]

25 minutes ago, drahkon said:

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR A SHRINE.

Oh good. Now I know that shrines are still a thing, even though Nintendo have made no reference whatsoever to them. WTF??  

It was all going great until this page.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Ronnie

[Dcubed]

Just now, Ronnie said:

Oh good. I now know that shrines are still a thing, even though Nintendo have made no reference whatsoever to them. WTF??  

It was all going great until this page.

I hear that the game still stars Link, features a 3rd person camera and involves you running around with sticks that still break if you look at them funny as well

[darksnowman]

13 minutes ago, drahkon said:

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR A SHRINE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

  My experience so far (spoilers for the fusing mechanic, obviously) (Reveal hidden contents)

I'm over it.

The controls are cumbersome, the novelty has worn off very quickly. Now it's just: Let me fuse stuff together as quickly and efficiently as possible to clear the shrine (or whatever boring objective the game throws at you over and over again).

Granted, it's early days and there will surely be more options to fuse stuff but I doubt I'll get any enjoyment out of it.

Here's an example: Just did a shrine where you had do fuse rockets to minecarts to cross chasms.
Cool at first, boring the third time.

It was a very basic shrine, though, to be fair. Doesn't fill me with much hope, though.

This is the kind of spoiler content I'm interested in. The practicalities. When you get more of it under your belt I'd be interested in a better overview.

15 minutes ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

The bold bits are one of the reasons I've not watched any of the preview/"I've played 20 minutes"/trailer dissection videos, because it'll be full of needless speculation bullshit and unnecessary ejaculation, which would serve only to bring me up before the game inevitably will let me down. 

I remember watching first 10ish minutes of Breath of The Wild played out where you meet the old man, and the mystery made me go "oooh" and tingly, but it eventually faded away when it just became going to 4 points to do a thing (which after the first Divine Beast revealed it to be the same thing just 4 slightly different ways), with some small puzzles dotted around an even larger landscape devoid of much.

I can see the fusion thing being fun for a bit also, I hope it doesn't rely too much on it, although depending on the weapon grab/durability opportunities I may have to. 

Same. The previews are all the same sugary gushing and as for the other speculative video examinations, I skip em as I want a game that's fun to play first and the hidden details can be discovered later. To be sure, it was intriguing setting out in BotW, down the slope to the Temple of Time, getting the slate powers, that iconic one time you chop down a tree to create a makeshift bridge... then you're off the plateau into the great nothingness. Funny in the TotK ask the developer interviews they allude to it as like reusing Wuhu Island and call it the Great Mundanity. They know.

9 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Oh good. Now I know that shrines are still a thing, even though Nintendo have made no reference whatsoever to them. WTF??  

It was all going great until this page.

Wait til you see what's coming on the next page.

[Ronnie]

10 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

I hear that the game still stars Link, features a 3rd person camera and involves you running around with sticks that still break if you look at them funny as well

Shrines have been in 1 game. And they weren't in any of the footage shown so far.

[darksnowman]

12 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Shrines have been in 1 game. And they weren't in any of the footage shown so far.

I'll name one. Link's Awakening has the Dream Shrine and Face Shrine.

[EEVILMURRAY]

18 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

I'll name one. Link's Awakening has the Dream Shrine and Face Shrine.

Fucker beat me to it. Not to be completely outdone I went trawling through other games... Minish Cap has Deepwood Shrine. Boom.

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, EEVILMURRAY said:

Fucker beat me to it. Not to be completely outdone I went trawling through other games... Minish Cap has Deepwood Shrine. Boom.

Bunkum. Shrines have only been in one game and I bagsied it was LA.  

[Julius]

WARNING: once again, in this Chapter, the developers start to talk about aspects of the game NOT shown in its marketing up to this point; a truly bizarre decision, and given they've spoken about it, I imagine tomorrow's reviews likely have the go-ahead to talk about it too. You have been warned. 

ETA: It's official news but an interview, and this close to launch and not in marketing, figured I'd still throw it in a spoiler tag. The follow-up tweet quoting the interview confirms something we haven't seen in the game's marketing...

Spoiler

and that is the existence of dungeons.

I mean, it's a Zelda game, so they could be like the Divine Beasts in BotW I suppose, and still refer to them as dungeons. But still, far as I'm aware, it's the first time it's been confirmed that dungeons even exist in the game. 

Got to be one of the weirdest marketing campaigns I've witnessed for a game. 

Chapter 3 of the Ask the Developer interview for TotK is up. 

Final two chapters arrive tomorrow  saving actually reading through these for when I'm done with the game, but hopefully make a good read! 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Julius